Date of Birth
5 September 1912,
Los Angeles, California, USA
Date of Death
12 August 1992, New York City, New York, USA (stroke)
Mini Biography
Innovative Composer and pianist, educated at Pomona College, he studied music with Fannie Dillon, Ruhan Buhlig, Lazare Levy, Henry Cowell, Adolph Weiss, Arnold Schönberg, and Edgard Varèse. He invented the concept of the "prepared" piano, and gave recitals in Europe and the United States. He joined ASCAP in 1955.
IMDb Mini Biography By:
Hup234!
Spouse
Trivia
Did scholarly research into the science of fungology (the study of mushrooms and other fungi).
His most (in)famous composition was 4' 33", consisting of musicans seated in front of their instruments without touching them for three movements, totaling four minutes and thirty three seconds. The sheet music simply reads "TACIT" (silent) for each movement.
Once performed one of his pieces on "I've Got a Secret," using among other items a grand piano, a duck call, a toaster, a transistor radio, and a bathtub.
Biography in: "The Scribner Encyclopedia of American Lives". Volume 3, 1991-1993, pages 89-91. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 2001.
Life partner of dancer/choreographer Merce Cunningham for fifty years, from 1942 until Cage's death in 1992.
Personal Quotes
I do the cooking, and Merce does the dishes. [in 1989, when asked publicly for the first time about the "nature of his relationship" with choreographer Merce Cunningham, who was also his frequent professional collaborator.
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